UT ticket demand plummets for Red River Rivalry game

In a sign of apparent apathy by University of Texas football fans, ticket brokers across the country are seeing a slide of up to 40 percent in secondary market prices for tickets for the Oct. 12 Red River Rivalry game versus Oklahoma.

SeatGeek, an Orbitz-style price aggregator that gathers prices for sporting events, concerts and more, is reporting prices for seats on the UT half of the Cotton Bowl average $209 each compared to $331 for tickets on the side of the highly ranked Sooners. Oklahoma has won the last three meetings between the two schools by a combined margin of 146-58.

UT fans appear to have had high hopes heading into the season, but a season-opening loss and a 3-2 record have caused demand form UT fans to fall 53 percent since then, according to the site.

“It’s obvious this rivalry has dulled with OU blowing UT out the last few years,” said Connor Gregoire, a communications analyst with SeatGeek. “You’ve got (head coach) Mack Brown on the hot seat and I think that’s part of it too. Of course, maybe all is forgotten with a win.”

Saturday’s game is a sellout and will still be a boon to both schools. But the soft secondary demand shows a combination of a high number of ticket holders looking to skip the game and a relatively lower number people looking to buy a ticket.

Austin-based ticket broker TicketCity is reporting similarly soft demand for what is typically a strong seller.

Meredith Owen, communications director for TicketCity, said increased demand for Texas A&M games since the school’s rise to prominence in the South Eastern Conference has helped shore up falling interest in UT.

And she said there has been an increase in lower-priced tickets in the last couple days, showing that fans are still looking to catch a bargain on tickets available for below face value.

“There might be a last-minute rush when (UT fans) find out the tickets are more affordable,” she said. “There’s also the potential we’ll see some empty seats on TV.”